Author's Note: This is written for the DN-Yaoi group on Deviant Art. I had to chose two numbers and a letter. Lucky for me, I got two people and an action that was fairly simple to do. The code I chose was 1 D 4, which came out to L hugging Near. Only issue is the wonderful technical problems I have at times. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or the characters affiliated with that story. I only own the story idea here.
Easing the Heart
It was the soft sound of footsteps that roused L from his work. For this point in time, he had returned to Whammy's House to rest and spend time with the students that were studying to follow in his footsteps. The rowdiness of the house had finally stilled into silence, which was another reason the detective enjoyed the night hours so much.
Dark eyes looked to the doorway to see a tiny figure clad in overly large white pajamas. One small hand twisted a lock of snowy hair while the other held onto a stuffed teddy bear.
"Near, is everything all right?"
The boy looked at his mentor with large gray eyes that held a mix of emotion.
"Near had bad dreams," he answered, fingers twisting the hair even harder. The action told L that the boy was very rattled, despite his inability to express emotion.
The detective rose and padded to kneel in front of the child, eyes looking into the others.
"You do understand that nightmares are not real?"
The answer was given in the form of a silent nod, though the twisting action didn't stop. It reminded L of the time he'd been brought to Whammy's and how scared he'd been given everything in his past.
"It doesn't make it less frightening, does it?"
Near shook his head at the question, and it was then that L could see the slender figure shaking. The dream must have been very bad, possibly due to the history of the boy prior to coming to the orphanage.
The raven haired teenager gently pulled the boy into his arms, hugging him close. He could feel the almost too small body tense against him before relaxing as an arm wrapped around the older male.
L held him in the embrace for a while, simply letting the other take strength in him before picking him up and carrying him to his chair. He took a seat, keeping the other tucked beside him.
The detective resumed his work, keeping his arm around the little boy, allowed the silence and occasional tapping of keys of the computer to lull Near back to a sound sleep.
Once he felt the young one's body get heavy against his side, he allowed himself a soft smile as he looked down at Near. Sometimes, the only way to ease the heart was to give the best of human contact in the form of a simple hug.